


The Phoenix Empress

by marypoppins9310



Series: The Stone Wielders (Marvel) [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Soulmates, Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Captain America: The Winter Soldier, Hydra (Marvel), Multi, Romantic Soulmates, Soulmate-Identifying Marks
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2021-02-18
Updated: 2021-03-11
Packaged: 2021-03-13 22:36:13
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 8
Words: 21,936
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29533488
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/marypoppins9310/pseuds/marypoppins9310
Summary: Thanos had finally been defeated, and the Avengers could finally rest. While returning the stones to their original timelines, Steve Rogers doesn´t go back to Peggy, staying with a newly-deprogrammed Bucky in 2023 instead. However, his brief trip leaves him at a loss, having found certain hints that point to a woman they have all forgotten, one who wears both his and Bucky´s marks and could be the answer to many unexplainable events that had prevented many disasters to alter all of their timelines.Just who is this woman? Was she the one who saved Tony and Natasha from certain death? Could she have been their soulmate? If so, how could they have forgotten her?
Relationships: Carol Danvers/Original Female Character(s), Clint Barton/Laura Barton, Clint Barton/Original Female Character(s), James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Female Character(s), James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers/Original Female Character(s), Original Male Character/Original Female Character, Pepper Potts/Tony Stark, Pietro Maximoff/Original Female Character(s), Steve Rogers/Original Female Character(s)
Series: The Stone Wielders (Marvel) [1]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2169744
Comments: 47
Kudos: 55





	1. Prologue.

**Author's Note:**

> Hello, everyone! Welcome to my new fic! Reviews and feedback will always be appreciated, just keep in mind that English is not my mother language. Enjoy!

**_United States of America, 1945._ **

_Cold, bitter tears ran down her face. Her gaze, full of guilt, pain, and despair, was focused on both gravestones in front of her, tracing the carefully crafted words with caramel-coloured eyes._

**_James Buchanan Barnes_ **

**_1917-1945_ **

****

**_Steven Grant Rogers_ **

**_1918-1945_ **

_Oh, her boys. Her poor, poor boys. Both taken from her in less than a week, both in unexpected ways, both having left without the opportunity to say goodbye. One lost to an endless pit of snow, the other one to the vast power of the ice. It wasn´t fair. Of course, it wasn´t. They had died for their country, believing that many lives would be spared if they completed the very same missions that had ended up being their own personal undoing._

_She thought back to the moment when she had told Steve not to take Bucky to the Alps. She thought about the sense of dread that filled her body the night before, how she had told the blonde about, and how he had simply dismissed her concerns. At the time, it had made her furious. Weren´t they soulmates? Didn´t she have a right to express her worries about the mission to capture Zola? Just how little did he trust her?_

_They had fought. They had fought, said cruel things that shouldn´t even have left their mouths in the first place. He had stormed out, believing that she was only saying those things because she didn´t trust them. She, on the other hand, had accused him of not having any respect for her, of not loving her enough to hear what she had to say in times like these._

_The thought brought another wave of fresh tears to her eyes. It had been for nothing. They had wasted precious time. Steve hadn´t even talked to her when he got back from that dreadful place. He had preferred to stay in a bar, drinking and drinking even if he couldn´t get drunk._

_She had chosen to stay in her rooms, crying and shouting out to the heavens in her mind. Why, oh, why had her ancestors taken him from her? Why hadn´t she listened to her feelings, why hadn´t she gone with them? Why hadn´t she used her abilities? What good were they if they could not save her love?_

_Then Steve had chosen to channel all his anger, his guilt, his resentment for Hydra, and had embarked on a mission from which he never returned. Another stab of pain to her fragile heart. In that moment, she had gone numb. She had spent hours staring at her marks, the only thing that tied her to this world. They had faded to a dull colour, the vibrant red star and blue, red, and white shield almost non-existent on her skin._

_The reminder of her failure to protect that which she held most dear._

_Now, staring at their empty graves, she was lost. What was she going to do now? Should she stay, and help her new-found friends clean the many disasters that the war had left behind? Or should she go back to her country to heal her mind, body, and soul? She didn´t know._

_But then, she thought of the Barnes Family. She couldn´t leave them, not now. She had to take care of them. She had failed one of their own, she wouldn´t do it again. She would help them, and she would start planning the downfall of Hydra while she was at it. She wasn´t so naïve as to think that they had disappeared. Oh, no. They were somewhere, probably trying to regroup and fix everything that Captain America had taken from them._

_With these in mind, the woman put a hand to her belly, as if that alone would protect that which was growing inside._

_“Just you wait, my love. I will finish what your fathers started, and end Hydra once and for all”._


	2. Many questions, and zero answers.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> A thousand questions keep popping up, and no one has the answers to any of them. Meanwhile, Steve returns the stones and finds out an impossible truth.

**_ Unknown H.Y.D.R.A. Facility, 1978. _ **

_Screams of pain filled the room._

_A dozen guards gathered around a metallic chair, guns at the ready and postures rigid with tension and the slightest hint of fear. Two men in white lab coats and another one in military clothing stood in front of the figure sitting in the chair, waiting for the procedure to end, while the man in question, if he could still be called that at this point, let out ragged, unsteady breaths once the machine had stopped it´s never-ending torture._

_The Asset, as they called him, stared wearily at the people surrounding him, eventually relaxing his body -though only for a few moments- and fixing his gaze on the three people standing before him. It was the one lacking a lab coat, his most recent handler, that stepped forward after speaking the words that made the Asset compliant._

**_“Good evening, Soldier”_ ** _he spoke, holding a red book, now closed, in his right hand. His Russian was impeccable, of course it would be, he had been born and raised in the Soviet Union his whole life._

_The metal armed man straightened his posture._

**_“Ready to comply”_ ** _he answered, his voice a mirror of the pain in his throat, caused by long minutes of screaming._

_Colonel Alexei Karpov smirked, tossing a folder at him. All information on their next innocent victim was inside, not that the Soldier knew this. He was just doing his job as the Fist of H.Y.D.R.A._

_A woman´s face was the first thing he saw once he opened the brownish folder. She was beautiful, of that there was no doubt. Long, wavy brown hair framed her delicate features, caramel eyes staring back at him fiercely through the piece of paper. She was young, couldn´t be more than thirty years old, and, though he hadn´t met her, he could instantly tell that she´d be a challenge when they sent him to kill her._

_But, somehow, there was something on the back of his mind, a tingling feeling that spoke to him about familiarity, though that wasn´t possible. The Soldier didn´t know this woman, he had never seen her before. And yet… His mark, the one shaped almost like a bird, though a bit different, told him otherwise._

_He took a look at the rest of the photographs, but none of them showed any of her body parts, so he couldn´t know if his thought were actually accurate. He could only wait to see what his mission was, and then he would formulate a plan of action that would, hopefully, allow him to clear his head and find the answer to this strange occurrence._

**_“As of today, our sources have placed this woman in Kiev. You will go there tonight, find her exact location and bring her back here, alive”_ ** _Karpov ordered, crossing his arms._

_Ah, so she was important. Probably had something H.Y.D.R.A. wanted, too. Otherwise, had she been only a minor threat, they would have told him to kill her. The Asset couldn´t help but take another look at her. Perhaps, after all this time, though he didn´t exactly know how much time he had been on their service, there was a chance that this woman could help him with his non-existent memories._

_With that in mind, the Soldier looked at Karpov and nodded, the latter signalling for a team to get ready. It was time._

** Upstate New York, 2023. **

They had done it. Finally, Thanos had been defeated, and the missing Avengers had returned home, just like everyone that had been a victim of the Snap. Yet, despite how happy everyone with the fight´s outcome, they were also concerned about the way it had been won.

Natasha, for instance, was absolutely confused. How could she be alive? She had died, hadn´t she? She had jumped and split her head open, thus allowing Clint to get the soul stone and take it back to the Avengers Compound. Then, out of nowhere, she had appeared in the middle of the battlefield, almost giving por Barton a heart attack. She still remembered the shocked look in her comrades´ faces, how absolutely gobsmacked everyone had been, though they hadn´t had much time to process it before a group of Chitauri had attacked them, again. When it ended, the redhead had been assaulted with questions to which she didn´t have an answer to. Needless to say, the Avengers had spent only a few hours partying -courtesy of Tony, of course- and enjoying each other´s company before these questions had arisen again.

Speaking of Tony, the man´s resurrection had been the second scare of the evening. One moment he was deathly still, lying in Pepper´s arms, and the next he was gasping awake, his skin returned to a healthy colour and eyes wide with fear and confusion. Like Natasha, he had been dead, they had all seen it, so they found themselves wondering what in the hell was happening and why dead people were suddenly turning up like their deaths hadn´t happened at all.

The sorcerers, Zuri, Banner, even Carol… None of them had been able to provide an answer to what was happening. However, instead of delving into matters that would most certainly take them hours to solve, they had agreed to celebrate their victory without worrying about anything else. By the end of the night, most of them had gone back home, eager to return to their families and get a grip on a new reality, one that had cost them five long years.

Now, however, it was time for the stones to be returned to their original timelines. Steve, ever the hero, had volunteered to take them, and none had spoken against his decision. They would see him in a matter of seconds, after all.

“Don´t do anything stupid until I get back” Steve told Bucky, standing in front of the brunette in his uniform.

The former Winter Soldier smiled, shaking his head.

“How can I? You´re taking all of the stupid with you”.

Both men hugged, patting each other on the back and taking comfort in the brief embrace. Moments later, though, they parted. The blonde gave his soulmate one more look of reassurance before turning to Nat.

The redheaded woman stood just a couple feet from the platform, dressed in a pair of jeans and a black t-shirt. She gave him a small smile when he approached.

“Don´t get any ideas about staying where you´re not supposed to, Rogers” she warned jokingly.

The super soldier laughed, giving her a hug when he saw her reach for him with her arms.

“Wouldn´t dream of it, Nat”.

“Be careful” was the last thing she said before waving her hand towards Banner and Stark, who were talking amongst themselves while they waited for him.

“I will”.

That being said, the blonde then turned around and stepped on the platform, taking the metallic case guarding all six stones and holding it in his left hand.

“How long is this gonna take?” asked Sam, turning to look at the former Hulk.

Bruce shrugged, fixing his glasses while Tony finished making the last preparations.

“For him, as long as he needs. For us, five seconds”.

The Falcon nodded, watching as Rogers took Mjolnir in his free hand.

“You ready, Cap?” Bruce asked “Alright, we´ll meet you right here, okay?”

“You bet”.

Steve took one last look at Bucky, who had been watching the whole thing a bit anxiously, though he didn´t let the others see it. Unfortunately, the blonde knew him better than anyone, enough to know what his lover was feeling, even if he couldn´t always do it -which wasn´t that surprising, actually, seeing as one of the first things that Hydra had trained him to do was hiding his emotions.

The super soldier chose this moment to send him waves of reassurance through their bond, taking notice of the way the brunette relaxed his shoulders, tension no longer making them tighten uncomfortably. Bucky gave him a look of gratitude, smiling a little.

“Going quantum. Three, two, one…”

As Banner spoke, the machines started whirring, forcing Steve to activate his suit, and take one look at everybody who was present before he finally disappeared.

“And returning in five, four, three, two, one…”.

The machine whirred again, lighting up and returning Rogers to the present. However, unlike before, the blonde was on his knees, no metallic case on hand -which was reassuring, it mean he had returned them safely- and a look of confusion, pain, and -was that despair they could see?

Sam, Natasha, and Bucky ran to him, the latter wasting no time in putting his hands on his soulmate´s shoulders, making him look at him while the other two stood a few feet apart form them, being joined by Tony and Bruce seconds later.

“Capsicle, you alright?”

“Stevie, are you hurt? Did something happen to you?”

While Bucky´s concern for him would have warmed his heart in any other situation, the blonde was too confused, too shocked, to pay attention to what his lover was asking him.

“Steve?” came Nat´s voice, a hint of concern palpable on her tone.

The super soldier swallowed, turning to look at the brunette holding him close. Bucky had a frown plastered on his face, the worry in his eyes making something tighten on his stomach. Clearing his throat, the blue-eyed soldier put a hand over his Bucky´s.

“Buck… I think we had a soulmate in the forties. I think…I think we forgot her”.

**_ S.H.I.E.L.D. Facility, 1970. _ **

_Only one more stone needed returning. The space stone was safely tucked in the insides of the metallic case in which its sisters had also been held, completely hidden from view while Steve crept through the hallways. Avoiding the staff was easy, and he only had to do it for just a little while, enough to get to the place where they had kept the minds stone in the first place. Once he arrived there, he checked to see if anyone was around before creeping inside the room and leaving the precious cargo where it had originally been._

_After, that…Well. Steve couldn´t help but go into the place where he had seen Peggy as the director of S.H.I.E.L.D. Maybe it was nostalgia, maybe he just wanted a sense of finality before going back to 2023. Maybe he just wanted to say goodbye before finally leaving his past behind, so that he could truly move forward._

_With that in mind, the blonde got into Margaret “Peggy” Carter´s office, the very same place where he had ended up while Tony and he had been searching for the space stone before the battle with Thanos. When he arrived, he noted that everything was the same. Peggy was in the adjoining room, separated by a window, reading some random papers inside a brown folder, lower lip bitten in concentration and completely oblivious to the friend standing in her private space, the very same one that she had lost so many years before._

_All the while, Steve was taking a look at the room in which he stood in, although this time more carefully. With a smile on his face, he reached for the photograph Peggy kept on his desk, tracing over the features of the man he had been before the serum. He had been so young then, so full of insecurities and a prisoner of his own health problems. Of course, he hadn´t let that stop him from wanting to do what was right, always fighting those who looked down on the weak, always getting into fights and giving Bucky more than a few heart attacks. Then, his country had become involved in the war after Pearl Harbour, and he had wanted the chance to fight for it, for every person that couldn´t do it themselves. Yet again, his health had gotten in the way, no doctor was willing to let a sick man out in the field, but he hadn´t let that deter him, especially when he found out Bucky was going overseas._

_Thankfully, Doctor Erskine had seen something in him, had been willing to give him a chance. He had trained, met Peggy, become the first super soldier, and been reunited with Bucky in Azzano. He had been happy, at least for a while, but, of course, it was not meant to last. His soulmate fell from the train in the Alps, and he crashed his plane into the Artic days later. He had told Peggy that he had no choice, that millions of lives would be lost if he didn´t do it, when in truth, he had been so full of pain, grief, and anger, all caused by Bucky´s death, that he hadn´t wanted to live. Selfish, maybe, but he had thought that he´d die and be done with all of it. Obviously, he would later come to regret this, for, if he hadn´t done it, if he had known that his soulmate was alive but captured by the soviets… then maybe he could have prevented the seven decades of torture that Bucky had to endure as his very own alter-ego, the Winter Soldier. Perhaps, everything could have been different._

_All these thoughts swam in his head, reminding him of a time long since lost while he traced the photo delicately with his finger. In doing so, something caught his eye from the corner of the desk. There, under a stack of neatly organized papers, lay a worn-out book, or at least he thought it was a book. Curious, he put the photo back in its place and removed the papers, gazing at the brown-coloured cover with intrigue. There was no title, no hint as to whom it might have belonged to, only the plain surface of the cover. Frowning, he opened it, his eyebrows rising when he saw the photo of a young, brunette woman smiling at the camera with mirth in her eyes and a breathtaking smile. Under it, three golden coloured letters._

**_O.P.B._ **

_Her initials, perhaps? Turning to the next page, more photos of this woman kept appearing. In some of them she was alone, in others she was with Peggy herself, even Howard and Maria. Was she someone they had met after the war? A friend? A coworker? If so, why did Peggy keep this book here and not home?_

_More and more pages were turned, but it was toward the end when he got the shock of his life. In one of the last few pages, a small handkerchief covered the contents of the delicate paper, which was almost absurd to Steve. Why the hell would Peggy cover a page with a handkerchief of all things? Why do it at all? He got his answer when he removed it._

_All the breath left his lungs._

_No… It couldn´t be. How was this possible? Was it a joke? Did someone, somehow, alter the photograph? It didn´t make any sense._

_There, in the corner of the page, was a photo. A photo of Steve, Bucky, and the very same woman from most of the pages of the book, taken in front of a medical tent and dated back to 1944. Both men were holding her in their arms, big, happy smiles plastered in each of their faces. They were dressed in their military uniform, while she wore the outfit Steve had seen the nurses wear. Anyone would notice how perfect they looked together, how they seemed to fit in each other´s arms like a piece would in a puzzle._

_However, what really took his attention was the woman´s wrist, where one mark rested just on the inside of it. A red star. The red star. Bucky´s red star. Feeling the shock invade his bones, the blonde swept his gaze over the lady´s body, coming to rest on her neck, when the outline of a shield, America´s shield, his shield, was barely visible to the eye._

_Feeling dizzy all of a sudden, the super soldier dropped the book on the desk and grasped its edge with trembling fingers. He was just so, so confused. They had a soulmate once? When? How? Why didn´t he remember her? Why didn´t Bucky? Could this photo, this whole book, be a lie? Somehow, Steve didn´t think it was._

_But then… What had happened? How could they have forgotten her? Did H.Y.D.R.A. know about her? Had they taken her, somehow, and made them forget her? All these questions clouded his head, almost causing him a sudden headache. None of it, none at all, made sense._

_Through his inner turmoil, Steve could hear voices down the hallway, signalling the approach of an unknown somebody. Swallowing, he hid the book under the papers and left everything intact, turning and wondering what the hell he was going to do now. In a matter of seconds, he felt the pull of the time machine, vanishing in the air and trying to think of what he was going to tell the others._

_He had to find out the truth._

** Upstate New York, 2023.  **

Hidden from view, just behind the many trees surrounding the Compound, Silvya Wayland, newest recruit and one of the youngest, observed the small group of Avengers, taking out her phone and using it to send a text.

_SW: They know._

She only had to wait a second to get a response.

_Unknown: Understood. On our way._

The brunette woman turned off the device, putting it in her back pocket and walking towards the rest of the team. This was going to be quite interesting.


	3. The search begins.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The search for answers begins. We get a small peak at the past.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hi, guys! I was so excited I couldn´t stop writing. Here goes another chapter! As always, comments and feedbacks are appreciated.

** Upstate New York, 2023. **

Bucky Barnes had trouble remembering his past. There was no doubt about it. What H.Y.D.R.A. did to him for all those years had damaged his brain, and, unfortunately, he knew that there was a possibility that he would never regain his memory completely.

However, if there was something that he was absolutely certain about, is that both him and Steve had been surprised, shocked even, to find out that they had a third soulmate waiting for them somewhere out there. He could remember, though vaguely, how they had wanted them to be a woman instead of a man -not that they had anything against loving another man, the love shared between them was enough proof, but the possibility of having a good, strong, dame to share their life with had been quite enticing, especially one bearing a mark as powerful and beautiful as the one both men had on their skin.

Unfortunately, the war had broken out, and neither he or his lover had come across any woman with either a red star or America´s shield on their body. They had fought countless people for their country, hundreds of H.Y.D.R.A. members, and not once had they met the woman they were almost desperate to find. Of course, they hadn´t wanted to rush things, thinking that they would find her when the time was right, but it had still been a bit disappointing. Then, the Alps had happened, and Bucky could still remember how sorry he had been for their unknown soulmate, how devastated he had felt, to condemn them in such a cruel way. After all, when a soulmate dies, even if the parties involved haven´t met, the consequences can be quite catastrophic for those who lose their other half. He had sent a thousand prayers, hoping that Steve would somehow find her in the near future as he fell, cold, punishing wind against his cheeks, if only to find a little relief after his impending death. Yet again, it was not meant to be.

Steve had crashed the Valkyrie into the Artic, full of pain and sorrow, of guilt and despair, and they had both become prisoners of time, in their own ways. Still, after being brought out of the ice he had been frozen in for almost seventy years, the blonde had hoped that, somehow, their soulmate was still alive, even if they were as old as Peggy was when he saw her after finding out she was living in London, though he had known it was impossible. Only wishful thinking.

In 2014, he found out that his long-lost lover was alive, had been for decades, tortured and brainwashed by the same organization he had fought in World War II, one he had though to be destroyed back then. Only, he had no memory of their time together, of what they had in a time in which a love between two men or women had been frowned upon. Nothing. Since then, he had vowed to bring his best friend, his brother, his soulmate, back, even if it cost him his life. It almost had. Fortunately, he had survived, and had spent two whole years searching for him after the events at the Triskelion. The mess with Ultron, the Accords, nothing had stopped him from finding him, and bringing him to Wakanda to begin his healing process, and take the cursed words out of his mind, all thanks to T´Challa and Zuri.

Bucky remembered how relieved he had been after coming out of cryo, how thankful he had felt, for now, no one would be able to take control of the Soldier, even if he could sometimes swear he felt him in a small, dark corner of his mind, calling out to someone the brunette didn´t know. Until now, he hadn´t given it much thought.

Now, however… Now was a different story. Could that person be the woman that Steve had seen in 1970? Could he have met her during his time as the Winter Soldier, the Fist of Hydra? If so, did that mean he had killed her? Had they forced him to end her, to watch as life left her eyes without knowing he was killing his own soulmate? If something of the likes had occurred, then he was sure he wouldn´t be able to forgive himself, he couldn´t.

“Buck?” Steve´s voice broke him out of his thoughts.

The brunette lifted his eyes, meeting his lover´s in the process, and found the rest of the room´s occupants staring at him, probably waiting for him to speak.

“Sorry, what?”.

Natasha, or Natalya as he knew her in the Red Room, shot him a look, crossing her eyes.

“Steve was asking you if you had remembered something”.

Bucky shook his head.

“No” He said, though he hesitated when he saw the disappointed look in the blonde´s eyes, “Maybe”.

Tony chose this moment to intervene.

“Care to elaborate, Old Man?”

The former brainwashed assassin glared at him at the nickname, though it lacked any malice. Gazing at Steve, Bucky swallowed. Everyone else just kept quiet.

“You know how Shuri took the words out? Took _him_ out?”

When all who were present gave their affirmative, he continued.

“Well… Sometimes…Sometimes I get the feeling that he´s still there. He´s hidden away in my mind, almost dormant”.

While he spoke, Bucky avoided looking at Steve, who he knew would be looking at him with betrayal in his eyes. Sensing this, Sam tried to divert his attention.

“What does this have to do with your lost soulmate?” He asked.

“He´s calling out to someone, I think” Bucky admitted, “Maybe she is that someone”.

Steve shook his head, confused.

“But how? As far as we know, the Winter Soldier never had a partner, nor a soulmate”.

“It´s true” Natasha added, “The was nothing like that in the files we made public in 2014”.

Bucky could only shrug, not having the answer they were looking for. Banner rubbed his chin thoughtfully.

“Then maybe we should start in the forties, see if there´s something that can tell us anything that matches what Steve saw in 1970” Came his proposition, “We should take a look at those files you´re talking about, maybe there´s something missing, something they kept hidden even from their own organization”.

The others stared at him, silently agreeing with what he was saying. Sylvia, who has stayed quiet until that time, chose that moment to speak.

“I could help, if you want” She offered, “A fresh pair of eyes would be useful, maybe that´s what you need right now”.

Steve nodded, giving her a small smile.

“All right, then” Tony clapped his hands, “Let´s see what we can find”.

**_ Brooklyn, 1946. _ **

_The house was silent. The only thing that could be heard was the crackling of the fire, warming the room with its heat, casting a shadow over the woman sitting in the comfortable armchair right by the fire. Her hands held a cup of tea, the liquid soothing her throat, sore after so many hours of screaming. Her body was sore, her soul and mind hurt, but, in the end, it had been worth it. The product of their pure love had left a bittersweet taste on her tongue, though her closest friends, her family, had showered her with love and affection with tears in their own eyes as they congratulated her._

_Sarah Evelyn._

_That was the name she had chosen. It had come naturally, something had clicked when she remembered just who had mothered one of the men who had stolen her heart in such a small amount of time. Sarah Rogers had been an absolute marvel of a woman. She hadn´t known her for long, but she had been by her side when the woman´s last breath had left her. The brunette had never told Steve, though, just as she hadn´t old him nor Bucky about her abilities. Yet another thing she regretted, but she had thought it best at the time._

_Evelyn, on the other hand, she had chosen to honour the first persona who she had come across when she had come to this planet. She had been homeless, but that hadn´t stopped her from showing others the kindness that her Lords had lacked when they removed her from their home. The brunette had taken an instant liking to the middle-aged woman, and had offered her to stay with her, for she wanted to repay the woman in kind. The woman had complained at first, but the promise of a warm meal and a bed had been enough to win her over._

_Since then, the black-haired woman had become her must trusted friend, and, after a while, she had trusted her enough to let her on in her secret. Evelyn had been surprised at first, of course, anyone would be if another told them they were not of this planet, but she had quickly pulled her into a hug and swore to keep her secret. The woman had lived her life happily, and she had made sure that the brunette woman knew so before she died._

_Her death had left her devastated, of course, but she knew that what she had said was true. Her kindness and courage hadn´t been forgotten, and she had found Evelyn to be a fitting name for her newborn daughter, a daughter fathered by one of the best men she had known throughout her long life._

_The first time she had held her had been a mere five or six hours ago, and she had instantly been reminded of her baby´s father. Golden coloured locks framed her perfect face, her eyes, sky-blue and vibrant, full of wonder and life, had searched the room tirelessly. When they had met hers, she swore her heart had stopped, all breath leaving her lungs._

_Perfection. That was the only thing that could describe her. With her wandering hands, and tiny, wriggling feet, her daughter had looked like a little goddess, an innocent creature, not yet privy to the horrors of the world. In that moment, she had sworn to protect her, to destroy those who would dare harm her, and keep her safe from her own enemies, who surely wouldn´t hesitate to use her daughter to get to her._

_Her daughter, who decided she wanted to be held in that exact moment, crying her lungs out from the upstairs bedroom._

_Instantly alert, the drowsiness leaving her body in a matter of seconds, the caramel-eyed woman left her cup of tea on the table, climbing the stairs quickly and opening the door to Sarah´s room. Getting inside, she crept closer to the crib, where her daughter was rubbing her eyes while she cried. Shushing her softly, she took her in her arms, cradling her against her chest._

_“Hello, pretty girl” She cooed, smiling at her when her blue eyes settled on her, “Are you hungry, baby?”._

_As if agreeing, Sarah let out a tiny whimper, rising her tiny hands to hold hers. Her mother laughed quietly, sitting on the rocking chair and pulling down the straps of her nightgown, watching with rapt attention as the baby latched on her breast, sating her hunger in minutes._

_A knock on the door made her raise her head. Moments later, a young woman´s head appeared behind it, grey blue eyes taking in the scene before her. Recognizing the visitor, Sarah´s mother waved at her to come in._

_“Hey” She said._

_The other woman smiled at her tiredly._

_“Hey. Couldn´t sleep and heard baby crying”._

_“Are you okay?” Concern was palpable on her voice._

_The youngest of three siblings shook her head in dismissal._

_“Fine, don´t worry. Just wanted to see if you wanted anything, I´m going to go down and get a glass of milk, see if it helps me sleep”._

_Frowning in sympathy, the new mother fixed her nightgown and smiled reassuringly at her sister-in-law._

_“Don´t worry, sweetie. You go ahead and get your milk, I´ll just put Sarah to bed and join you when I´m finished”._

_The eighteen-year-old nodded, stepping out of the room and closing the door quietly behind her, not wanting to risk waking up the people sleeping in the other rooms. Getting up and doing as she had said, caramel eyes looked out of the window, watching as snow kept falling, covering the ground in white._

** Upstate New York, 2023. **

Blue eyes searched the room, sweeping over it and causing a smile to break out on their owner´s face when it was revealed that no one was in sight. Phone in hand, the woman stepped inside and approached the stack of boxes in the corner, where most of the files regarding H.Y.D.R.A.´s activities were packed. Taking a look at the one in the right, the brunette sank to her knees and opened it, going through its contents until she found what she was searching for. With a smirk, she took out what she was hiding inside her sweater and put it in the box, using her phone to send a quick text before taking it in her arms and stepping into the hallway, walking towards the conference room where the others were.

_SW: Done._

When she arrived, Natasha looked up from where she was standing by the computer and raised an eyebrow.

“That all you could bring?”

Sylvia rolled her eyes at the redhead’s teasing tone, sarcasm tinting her next words.

“Oh, I´m so sorry I couldn´t carry three medium sized boxes full of files, I´m not a freaking super soldier”.

In truth, she could have carried all three boxes and more, but she wasn´t going to tell them that. Instead, she put the box on the table and went to join Steve and Bucky, who, judging by the amused expression on both of their faces, had heard what she had said.

Natasha chose not to answer, sitting down and waiting for the rest to take their places.

“All right” She spoke, “Rogers, Barnes, how do you want to do this?”.

Both super soldiers stared at each other, seemingly having a conversation with their eyes. No one noticed the way Sylvia tilted her head, gaze focused on them, eyes flashing gold for one millisecond before returning to normal. They were too busy waiting for either one of the men to talk.

It was Steve who broke eye contact.

“Maybe Buck and I should take the forties. Nat, Sam, and Sylvia could take a look at the H.Y.D.R.A. files again and Bruce and Tony could take the seventies, find out what Peggy knew about the woman”.

Stark nodded, now curious to see if his own father had been in contact with the lady who had apparently been a part of Capsicle´s and Manchurian Candidate´s past, but who they didn´t remember.

“You got it, Cap”.

“If anyone finds anything, just tell us so we can all check it out”.

With everyone voicing their agreement, they all rose from their places and headed to do their own tasks, Sam stopping to pat both men on the back, giving them a reassuring smile.

That left Steve and Bucky alone in the room, which the latter was actually dreading. He knew Steve wanted an explanation, after all, he hadn´t told him about the whole feeling his alter ego in his mind, nor about the possibility of having met their soulmate before, but, in his defence, he hadn´t even contemplated the idea until Steve came back from returning the stones.

“So…”.

Bucky shifted uncomfortably, not liking the blonde was looking at him.

“Look, Steve…” He started, only to be interrupted by his lover.

“Why didn´t you tell me?” He asked, “I get that we didn´t really have time to talk after the whole Thanos and the Snap thing, but you could have said something while we were in Wakanda”.

The brunette sighed, closing his eyes.

“I don´t know, Steve” His voice was quiet, soft, as if that would somehow make the other super soldier leave it alone.

“I just…” The blonde raised a hand to his face tiredly, “First I find out that we apparently had a soulmate in the forties who we can´t remember for some reason, and then, you say that about the Soldier…”.

Bucky gulped, looking guiltily at the floor.

“I-I know. I know, I just, I just didn´t think it was even real, you know? I thought I was making it up, somehow”.

Steve frowned, feeling a sudden wave of guilt overcome him. Here he was, asking Bucky to talk about something that still troubled him, probably making him feel like an idiot for not realising it could be true when they hadn´t even known about meeting their soulmate so long ago.

“I´m sorry, Buck. I know it´s difficult”.

His lover shook his head, getting closer to him and intertwining his fingers with his.

“Yeah, well, it´s been rough for the both of us lately” He consoled him, “You know what? Why don´t we just look through the files for now, try to find anything, and we can talk about this later”.

Steve nodded, and together, they started a search for answers about their lost soulmate.


	4. Discovery.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Soldier finally meets his target. In 2023, the Avengers make a shocking discovery.

**_ Unknown H.Y.D.R.A. Facility, 1978. _ **

_He had done it. His target had been brought to the base. It hadn´t been easy, the woman had skills and a fighting style which he had never encountered before, but he had managed to apprehend her. However, it hadn´t been because she had given up, oh no, it was only because she had frozen upon seeing his face after ripping his face mask off._

_He remembered the way she had frozen, staring at him with wide eyes, gobsmacked, surprise, then confusion, then guilt, regret and pain colouring her perfect features in quick succession. He hadn´t thought much about it, focused only in completing his mission and bring her back to the base, if only so she could answer his questions, because, standing before her, the sense of familiarity had come back at him full force. He had wasted no time in taking advantage of her state and rendering her unconscious, picking her up in his arms and carrying her back to where his handlers were waiting for him in the base._

_He hadn´t been able to explain it, he still couldn´t, but the moment a group of doctors, with six guards trailing behind them, had approached them wanting to take her to do a physical evaluation, he had felt a protectiveness like no other, growling at them and tensing up like he would in a fight, like he had a few hours before. They had instantly cowered back, confused and surprised as to the Asset´s reaction, turning to Karpov for instructions._

_His handler, however, had been just as shocked as they had been, though, in the end, he had been so interested as to why the Soldier was protecting the woman that he had immediately told them not to touch her yet, letting his puppet carry her to her designated cell himself, much to the displeasure of the team of doctors, who had wanted to begin working on her as soon as possible. Why? The Asset did not know, but he intended to figure it out._

_As of right now, the assassin was watching the mysterious woman sleep, transfixed by the way her chest rose up and down, admiring the way in which her eyelashes rested against the skin under her eyes, lips slightly parted as she breathed. Gulping, he resisted the sudden urge to touch her, to drag his fingers against her porcelain-like skin, though he really wanted to. He wondered how her fingers, toned and delicate, would look around his neck, how her legs and the rest of her body would look like cradled against his, soft and comforting while he watched her sleep, protected and safe in his arms. Somehow, it was very easy to picture all of it in his head, almost as if he had done it before…_

_The Asset shook his head rapidly. Where the hell had that come from? He didn´t know this woman, this angelic creature lying on the bed, he was sure he would have remembered her. Or maybe… Maybe he wouldn´t have. He was so confused. He didn´t understand what was happening to him, but perhaps she could explain it to him. Explain why he had felt that sense of familiarity when he had seen her photo, explain what her reaction to seeing him had been, explain why he had felt so protective of her, explain why thoughts of her invaded his mind since he had seen her, explain why all of it was making his head ache in pain, explain what we was missing._

_A low growl of frustration escaped his lips. He needed her to wake up, he needed to speak to her, find out what she knew. The chance to do so came a few seconds later._

_With a gasp, the brunette woman shot up from the bed, eyes wide and searching the room until her gaze settled on him, right where he had been sitting for the past half an hour. The moment it happened, her caramel-coloured eyes widened even more, a low wail escaping her, hands raising to her head._

_“Oh, God. Oh, God, no. You can´t be here, you can´t. Oh, how can you be here? What happened? Why do they have you? How can it be you?”_

_Her incessant muttering continued for a few more seconds, just until he decided he had had enough, raising up from his seat and walking towards her, only stopping once he reached the end of the bed._

_“Hey” He snapped, impatient, silently praying for her to shut up before he´d do something he might regret later._

_She jumped at his tone, putting her arms down and raising her head to look at him, tears gathering in her eyes. He had to shake the urge to hold her, to gather her in his arms and put her at ease, getting rid of her pain._

_“Calm down” He said, trying, for her sake, to soften his tone a little, though it was more of an order that an attempt to comfort her._

_She tried to do so, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, willing the rest of her tears to go away and concentrating enough to put an emotionless mask on her face, just as she had been trained to do back at home. When she finally could, she opened her eyes again, stunning the Soldier. How had she done that? Gone from a withering, crying mess, to an emotionless, alert state, fixing her stare on him and staying silent, not a word falling from her lips._

_He waited for a few seconds, deciding on how to approach her, before his need to know what everything had been about finally got the best if him, yet again surprising him. He was normally so very controlled, a master at keeping his emotions at bay, yet this woman had managed to change that, leaving him feeling like the victim and her the interrogator._

_“Why did you react like that? When you saw me, why did you look so surprised?” He asked._

_She didn´t answer for a while, tilting her head and taking her eyes off him, instead looking at both cameras in the room. The Soldier did the same, frowning slightly. How had she known where to find them so quickly? Had she, somehow, expected something like this to happen? Could she have known something? If so, her reaction didn´t make any sense. If he knew he was going to be kidnapped, he would have been prepared, not frozen in disbelief when confronting her kidnapper._

_The brunette beauty stared intently at the cameras for a few more seconds, watching in satisfaction as both red dots disappeared, signalling they had been turned off. After that, she turned to stare at him again, as if inviting him to repeat the question now that there were no eyes nor ears listening or watching their conversation._

_The Asset, meanwhile, could finally understand why H.Y.D.R.A. wanted this woman. She had abilities. That´s why they were so interested in her. From what he could see, they probably had something to do with the mind. Telekinesis, perhaps. Maybe something else. Curiosity invaded his senses, though he supressed it in favour of repeating his previous question._

_“Why did you react like that?”._

_She gave him a small, almost hesitant, smile._

_“You and I knew each other, a long time ago”._

** Upstate New York, 2023.  **

Natasha, Sam and Sylvia had been going over the H.Y.D.R.A. files for a few hours, and, needless to say, their search had been fruitless. The three of them could feel the beginnings of exhaustion spread through their bodies, though they used whatever means they could to fight it -mainly coffee, coffee was a lifesaver.

Though neither wanted to admit it, mainly for Steve and Bucky´s sakes, they were starting to think that all of it was for nothing. They had already checked four of the boxes, and they had found nothing that would indicate the presence of the Missing Lady -as Sam had taken to call her- in any of the H.Y.D.R.A. bases. They were currently going over the contents of the fifth and final box, and, so far, they had come up empty.

That is, until Sam picked a folder from the middle of the stack, raising his eyebrows when he skimmed over the piece of information one of its sheets contained.

“Oh, what the hell?”

Nat and Sylvia, who had been looking at their own work, paused what they were doing when they heard their friend´s tone.

“What is it?” The brunette asked.

Her female companion crossed the room and went to his side, wanting to see what the Falcon had found. The latter handed her the folder, still in disbelief, the redhead wasting no time in taking her own look at the information inside.

“This doesn´t make any sense” She muttered, her eyes filled with surprise.

Sylvia went to join them, frowning in confusion. She really was a good actress, her mother would be proud.

“Guys, what´s going on?”.

Natasha put the folder down, dread filling her when the true meaning of what was in the page finally clicked in her head.

“We need to talk to the others, they have to see this” She explained, going towards the door, “Especially Barnes”.

Sam and Sylvia nodded in agreement, the former picking the file and shaking his head while signalling for his friend to follow him, leaving F.R.I.D.A.Y. to turn off the lights. Walking down the hallway, they could see that Natasha had already told everybody to go the conference room, them being the last ones to arrive. Damn, she was quick. Then again, they doubted that the others had wanted to wait, especially if they had found something that could help. And, oh, if they hadn´t found something. They just weren´t sure it was a good thing, especially when it came to Barnes. The poor man was going to be devastated.

Once they were all ready, Steve cleared his throat and looked at the three of them.

“So, what did you find?”

By his tone, the only redhead in the room could she that he was eager to hear whatever it was they had to say, even if it was a minor detail.

“We found something in one in the boxes, something that has to do with the Winter Soldier” She explained.

Bucky stiffened in his seat, clenching his fists. His blonde soulmate was quick to put his hand over his, which made him relax the slightest bit. Natasha waited till he gave her the okay to continue.

“Particularly, it had to do with the serum they used on him. They were trying to see what its effects would be in other people”.

Banner interrupted her, fixing his glasses.

“But they tried that, didn´t they?” He asked, “With the other Winter Soldiers”.

The former one clenched his jaw.

“Yeah, they did”.

Tony shook his head, confused.

“But wait, what does this have to do with our Missing Lady?”.

The Falcon huffed, exasperated.

“We´re getting there, Stark”.

Natasha shared a look with Sylvia, rolling her eyes. They really needed Wanda to come back, the men were taking a toll on them. The Black Widow fixed her gaze on them.

“Guys, this is serious” She scolded.

That made everyone sober up. Steve sent her a grateful look, already wanting to hear where she was going with this. She straightened up on her seat, motioning Falcon to give her the folder and opening it as soon as she had it in her hands, hesitating for a moment before speaking.

“H.Y.D.R.A. didn´t just want to try it in other people. They wanted to try it on pregnant women”.

Gasps were heard all over the room. Bucky closed his eyes, dreading what that could mean.

“So, they wanted a bunch of super babies” Tony asked, ever the tactless man they had come to know over the years.

“Tony” Steve snapped, giving him a warning glance. The blonde could feel how tense his lover had become.

“Sorry” The black-haired man said, looking down to avoid the disappointing glances of everyone in the room.

Sylvia intervened, then, wanting to get all of it over with.

“They kidnapped a few women, then? Does it say who they were?

Natasha shook her head.

“They did kidnap a few women, yes. They took them, injected them with the serum, and waited as long as was needed till the children were born”.

“I´m guessing something went wrong” Bucky said, his voice hard and resigned.

“Yes” The redhead confirmed, not giving him the look of sympathy she was sure he would be receiving from everyone by the end of the conversation, “It did. The babies died. Their bodies rejected the serum, they weren´t strong enough”.

A mournful silence spread over the room. Babies. They had killed babies. Taken innocent lives, ones who hadn´t even come into the world, only because an obsession, and hunger for power. Natasha knew what it must have been like for those women. Though, in her case, she hadn´t even had the opportunity to have one. The graduation ceremony had made sure of that.

Trying to keep the tears that the memory had brought to her eyes at bay, the woman cleared her throat and kept talking.

“But that´s not all” She warned, “Over time, they grew desperate. They tried, and tried, but didn´t succeed. So they came up with an alternative”.

Here she paused, glancing carefully at Barnes. She knew that what she would be saying next wouldn´t be taken well. The man was looking at her like he knew what she was going to say, having started connecting the dots.

“If they couldn´t use the serum to make babies, then they would have to make do with what they had”.

Steve put his hands on the table, finally seeing what this was about.

“Nat-

She ignored him.

“They turned to the Winter Soldier”.

Bucky let out a shaky breath.

“If the serum didn´t work, then they needed a baby that would be born with it already in their veins, in their DNA. They needed the Winter Soldier to father a child”.

“Oh, God” Banner spoke, completely horrified.

“Jesus Christ” Sylvia whispered.

Everyone in the room looked at Bucky, who was now frozen in his place. They had used him to make enhanced babies. They had forced some innocent woman to carry a baby she probably didn´t want. With this realization, came a question that terrified Bucky to the bone. Had they used artificial methods? Or had they forced him to have sex with whatever victim they had designated to the task? Oh, God, had he raped someone?

Steve, seeing the state his soulmate was in, urged Nat to finished whatever she had to say, just so he could get Bucky out of there. The redhead, understanding, did exactly that.

“The first few tries didn´t work” She spoke gently, “But, eventually, they apparently got a hold of a woman who could bear the pregnancy, and she gave birth to a baby”.

Bucky´s jaw fell open, eyes wide. The others wore similar expressions of astonishment. H.Y.D.R.A. had done it? What had happened to the baby, then? Had they been trained just as their father? Were they brainwashed too? Were they still alive, somewhere, hiding after the fall of H.Y.D.R.A.? Were they a victim of the Snap?

“What happened to it?” Tony asked the question they all wanted to know the answer to.

Natasha shrugged.

“Don´t know. The file didn´t say any more than that. Only that they had succeeded in their project. We don´t know if he or she is alive, or dead, or frozen…”.

Sylvia scratched her neck.

“And do we know if this could be tied to our mystery woman?”.

All stared at Natasha, wanting to know what she thought. The redhead crossed her arms and put them on the table, shaking her head while she processed her thought.

“Look” She said, “I don´t want to give anyone false hope, but I find it strange that so many women failed in conceiving a child, and then, all of a sudden, this woman comes and gets pregnant, having no problems whatsoever in carrying it to term. So, perhaps, we could be looking at a solid maybe”.

What she was saying actually made sense. It definitely was suspicious. But what was even more curious was how no one had ever found this information until now.

“So, then…” Steve spoke, “Maybe we can focus on that. We should find out what happened to the baby, then maybe that could lead us to finding its mother”.

“Whatever we´re going to do, we need to do it quickly” Nat said.

Tony frowned.

“Why?”.

The Black Widow glanced at her teammates.

“Because that file wasn´t there when we made them public in 2014”.

Confused expressions adorned their faces.

“What are you saying?” Sam asked.

“I´m saying that file wasn´t in the box. All those are copies of the digital ones, and this wasn´t published, basically because it supposedly never existed in the first place” Nat explained, a serious look in her pretty eyes.

Bucky felt his eyebrows raise in realization.

“So that means…”

She nodded.

“It means someone put it there without us knowing, and we need to find out who it is”.

Quiet. Everyone fell quiet after that, wondering how it could have happened. F.R.I.D.A.Y. would have warned them if someone had tried to enter the building without consent, and, as far as they knew, they were the only ones who had been privy to everything related to Steve and Bucky´s lost soulmate. So then, who had done it? Who had gone and put that file inside the box right under their noses?

They all pondered these questions in solitude, all the while missing the tiny smirk etched on a certain brunette´s face.


	5. Midnight talks.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> We get a glimpse of our main character´s past. The Soldier gets a baby out of the base. Bucky has a talk with Sylvia.

**_ Unknown location, many, many years ago. _ **

_Peace. That was all she could feel. Lying on the grass, hearing the water as it fell from the waterfall, birds chirping in the distance, calling out to their mates. Feeling the soft breeze ruffling her hair brought a smile to her face. She loved the air. She loved the sky, actually. The freedom she felt whenever she went out flying couldn´t be compared to anything else. The adrenaline rush was empowering, and, more importantly, it was the only place where she could pretend she had no responsibilities. No audiences, no troubles, no world-ending catastrophe that required her immediate assistance._

_Thyla, her sister, sometimes teased her, telling her that all that flying would someday leave her with her head permanently in the clouds, but she couldn´t bring herself to care. She felt free, and that was the only thing that mattered to her. So much she could spend a whole day diving between the clouds, and she wouldn´t have thought twice about what was needed of her._

_Though, of course, her sister didn´t agree._

_“Eluding your responsibilities again, dear sister?”._

_The brunette groaned, covering her eyes in an attempt to hide from her sister. It didn´t work, obviously._

_“Dahlia, you must go back to the palace” She spoke, stopping a few feet before her. When she got no response from her, the blonde-haired woman rolled her eyes, sneaking a peak at the water and getting a mischievous look on her face. Moments later, the other woman was left drenched, dripping water everywhere._

_“For Fallion´s sake, Thyla!” She shrieked, sitting up and glaring at her sister through wet locks, “You did not have to do that!”._

_The blonde crossed her arms._

_“Mother is waiting for you. She wants you to start you lessons earlier than expected” She explained._

_Dahlia instantly let out a whine of protest._

_“Why? I´m supposed to be free this morning”._

_“Seriously, Dee” She scolded, “Stop behaving like a child. As future empress, you have to be taught everything there is to know about our culture, our history, and most importantly, your new abilities”._

_Now it was the younger woman´s turn to roll her eyes._

_“There you go again, talking about my responsibilities…”._

_Her sister narrowed her eyes, a clear sign that she was starting to lose her patience. She could only deal with her childishness for so long. Seeing this, the brunette got up from the ground, waving her hand and drying her clothes. Holding her head high, Dahlia passed her sister and headed back towards the castle, calling for her trusted friend and companion to follow her._

_“Fergus, let´s go” She said, “Duty calls, again”._

_In an instant, a giant beast appeared next to her, its massive tongue rolling out of its mouth. It had the shape of a wolf, covered in white fur, massive, black claws on its feet and golden eyes guarding its mistress closely._

_Fergus followed her to the palace, ever the watchful guardian, only stopping when she did, right before the entrance to the biggest room in the palace. The Throne Room. Right where her mother was waiting for her to arrive, probably wanting to scold her again as her sister had, accusing her of eluding her responsibilities for the thousand time._

_However, when she opened the doors, silver in colour, her gaze of annoyance turned into one of curiosity in an instant, focusing in the two men near the flawless figure of her mother, talking to her near one of the ceiling-high windows and exuding an aura that awoke something inside of her, something primal. Dangerous. Exciting. Arousing._

_The moment she entered, silence fell over the room, and three pairs of eyes connected. As if suddenly struck by lightning, the three of them stood frozen, staring at each other in wonder, unknowingly forming the starts of a bond that would last forever._

**_ Unknown H.Y.D.R.A. facility, 1995. _ **

_Sirens bleared through the stone walls. Guards ran, their feet stomping harshly against the ground, trying in vain to stop the super soldier from reaching the doors that led to the outside world. Knowing that if they lost him, if they lost the precious cargo in his arms, they would be doomed. Pierce wouldn´t let them live if they failed. Not when they had spent years waiting for this moment. Not when the first enhanced child, fathered by their Asset, had finally been born into the world._

_This fear drove them to run faster, cursing at the brunette whore for causing this many problems. She was supposed to be compliant, was supposed to submit if she didn´t want her dear Soldier to suffer. Instead, she had bested them yet again, causing a great distraction while her love took the tiny bundle in his arms and ran, saving his daughter. Taking her to someone who would keep her hidden, just until they were ready to fight back, when they were ready to end H.Y.D.R.A. once and for all._

_They couldn´t do it now, obviously, the last nine months had taken the both of them by surprise. None more than the baby´s mother. She shouldn´t have let it happen, but it had. And now, they were paying the price._

_“You must take her, my love. Now, while they are distracted. If we want her to live, to get away from these monsters, then you must get her outside. Get her outside, and wait in the forest, hide in the trees. Wait for a woman, a blonde woman with grey eyes and a small bird, just like mine, tattooed on her neck. She will help her. She will keep her safe until we can get to her”._

_His soulmate´s instructions spoke in his head, a reminder of the conversation they had had not fifteen minutes ago. She had been exhausted after giving birth to their daughter, to their baby girl. His baby, who did not yet know of the future that awaited her, condemned to a life of running, hiding, and hoping no one working for H.Y.D.R.A. found her. Ever. The consequences would be dire. It would be painful, yes, it already was, but it was necessary. She would be taken from them, otherwise. Taken, manipulated, brainwashed, tortured. Forced to forget parents she had barely met, forced to an existence of pain and misery. Just like he had been all those years ago._

_So he had to get her away. He had to take her to the woman his lover had told him about, and hope she could be trusted. For now, he had to trust his soulmate. And he did. Explicitly._

_He forced himself to run faster, though he clearly was no match for the soldiers scrambling to reach him from behind, but his little girl made it difficult to concentrate, even for him. However, focusing on her distracted him from thinking about his other girl, the love of his life, the light in his darkness, the only anchor he had to this world._

_The same woman he had left in that room, on the verge of passing out but protected by two young men, almost children themselves, carrying a pair of guns, deadly weapons in their hands, fiercely protective while they ensure the escape of the little angel. Fighting to protect the woman who had acted as a mother to both of them, who had given them a chance to fight for themselves, to survive, instead of enduring the torture of a terrorist organization that held no empathy for those who they viewed as nothing more than mere pawns._

_Finally, just finally, he saw the light creeping through the metal doors, using the explosive he had in one of his pockets to bomb it, covering the new-born’s head while sparks and shards of broken metal alike flew through the air, killing some of the guards instantly, trapping those who were left._

_Taking advantage of it all, the Soldier stepped outside, only stopping for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the light, running towards the forest a few seconds later and taking cover behind a group of trees acting as an impenetrable barrier,_ _checking on his daughter´s sleeping face -leave it to her to remain asleep while he ran through the base and caused an explosion– and waiting there for some time before the slightest ruffling of leaves made him turn his neck harshly, relaxing only when he was able to locate the mark his love had spoken of on the strangers´ neck._

_Her blonde hair was tied up in a high ponytail, body covered in a cloak to protect herself from the cold air, gaze settling on him for a second before focusing on the bundle of clothes in his arms. Her stare softened instantly, her own arms opening slightly, an open invitation for him to lay her in her arms._

_He hesitated. He still wasn´t sure about any of this, but he also knew that he couldn´t waste anymore time. He could have gotten away, taken his daughter to a safe place himself, but he knew he couldn´t live his light alone with those monsters. She didn´t deserve it, after all that she had done for him._

_With this thought in mind, the long-haired man stepped forwards and took one last look at his daughter. The same daughter he wouldn´t see until 2oo5, and 2014 after that, though of course he didn´t know that at the time. Swallowing, he kissed her forehead and put her in the blonde´s arms, her own eyes staring at him carefully._

_“When you go back to her, tell her that all have listened. We will be ready the next time you need us, and you will be freed from your torment. Mark my words. We never break our promises”._

** Upstate New York, 2023. **

Night had fallen over New York. Moonlight streamed through the windows, coating the room faintly soft, white colours, only adding to the peaceful atmosphere between those walls.

However, this was not enough to lull him back to sleep. Not after what he had seen in his most recent nightmares. Though, to be fair, he hadn´t been able to sleep well after the existence of his child had been revealed. To know that, at some point, he had fathered a little person, and not being able to remember if they were still alive, or dead, or lost, somewhere in the world.. It was devastating.

At first, he hadn´t been able to believe it. Him? A father? And to a child born during his darkest times, nonetheless, back when he was an emotionless, basically brainless, machine, on that didn´t hesitate to kill when his handlers told him to, ordered him to, never once pausing to question why he had been doing it.

He couldn´t picture it. He just couldn´t.

Though something told him that it was true. A feeling, at the back of his mind, in the centre of his chest, that told him that what they had found out was true, and the folder, which he had asked Natasha to see, had not been a lie. He had spent hours reading it, trying to evoke a memory, perhaps, something, anything, really, but it hadn´t done anything other than increasing his frustration. Since then, and without any other answers regarding the mysterious person who had put the file in the box, the former Winter Soldier had spent most of his nights in the gym, letting the anger out and praying for a miracle, just a small one, so that all the confusion would go away. Of course, it had been for nothing, again. Well, it had, actually, but not in a good way. All this had kept Steve worried, the other super soldier wanting to know what Bucky was feeling at all times, and though he was touched by his soulmate´s concern, he was also getting a bit tired of it.

The blonde was asleep now, on his back, eyes closed and lips slightly parted as he breathed slowly. The brunette tried to calm his thoughts by watching him, something that usually made him relax, but he found he couldn´t, not today. So, with a sigh, he got up, carefully as to not wake his lover, putting on a shirt and heading to the gym. To his complete surprise, he apparently wasn´t the only one who liked to make a trio there in the middle of the night.

Sylvia held a wooden staff in her hands, moving gracefully, though a bit aggressively, towards a dummy, using her weapon to hit it a few times, all of which would have been lethal if it had been a real fight. The brunette had her hair in a french braid, a few rebel strands falling in front of her eyes, though she seemed to pay them no mind. Grunts left her lips every now and then, muscles tensing with each blow, shoulders straining until, finally, the dummy was brought down to the ground.

Bucky raised his eyebrows.

“What did that poor dummy do to you?”.

The young woman didn´t seem to be startled, which surprised him a bit, since he usually gave the others a scare when he moved so quietly that only Natasha could sense when he walked into a room. However, he didn´t focus on it, choosing to stare at her tired, weary eyes, ones that, for a moment, reminded him of his own when he woke up from a particularly bad nightmare. He shook his head, dismissing the thought.

“Nothing, I guess” She spoke quietly, putting the staff back in its place and drinking some water, “Just wanted to relieve some stress”.

If it had been another, he probably would have made a smart comment about her choice of words, but, somehow, the idea didn´t sit well with him.

“Nightmare?” He asked, already knowing the answer, having recognized the signs the moment he stepped into the room.

The brunette nodded, sitting down on one of the benches and raising her hands to her head, sighing tiredly.

“Yeah”.

Bucky frowned.

“Want to talk about it?” He offered, fully intending to drop it if she didn´t want to, not wanting to press her, just as he didn´t like anyone to press him to talk about what he saw when he was asleep, memory or not.

Sylvia hesitated for a moment, deep in thought, though she ended up shrugging, watching as he crossed his arms.

“My mother” She started, avoiding his gaze, as if she were sharing some secret that she was ashamed about, “Sometimes I see her dying, over and over again. She is trapped, somewhere I can´t reach her, and she looks sad. Really, really sad. And lonely. So very lonely. Then I watch her fall through a pit of darkness, and I wake up”.

The super soldier stared at her, frowning at the explanation, staring at her carefully and waiting for her to continue. After a few moments, it was clear she wasn´t going to say more. So he decided that he´d change the subject.

“Your mother. What is she like?”.

To that question, she let out a small smile, eyes lighting up a little bit.

“Kind, brave, selfless” She said, getting a faraway look in her eye, “She takes care of me, has been since I was born, just like she takes care of my siblings”.

Bucky sat on the other side of the bench, facing her.

“I didn´t know you had siblings”.

For a moment, she seemed to berate herself, eyes widening a bit, though she quickly masked it, acting as if it hadn´t bothered her.

“A couple. An older sister and you younger ones. The twins” Sylvia smiled at the thought of them, “A handful, those two. Six years old, though sometimes I think they are older. They act so maturely, sometimes…”.

The former assassin could hear the wistfulness on her tone, a hint of melancholy and sorrow also present. He wondered why that was.

“I had a sister once, too, you know?” He found himself saying, which was actually surprising. He didn´t usually like to talk about his past with new people, especially those he had only known for a few short weeks. Somehow, his mind didn´t seem to care, “Rebecca. Becca, as we called her”.

Sylvia squinted her eyes at the mention of his sister, though he was too focused on picturing her on his mind that he didn´t notice.

“Was also a handful, from what I can recall about her. My ma always had to keep her in check and close to her, otherwise she would have gone to brave the world on her own. Bit of a wild thing, she was”.

They fell into a comfortable silence then. It seemed they had already let out what they needed to, and were consumed by their own thoughts. They spent the newt few minutes sitting there, thinking quietly, though eventually, Sylvia yawned and bid Bucky goodnight, going back to her room to shower and see if she could relax enough to go to sleep, replaying the conversation she had with Bucky a few times, and found herself not regretting talking about her family, opting to open the case under her bed and taking out an album of some sorts, with the initials **_“O.P.B”_** carved in front.

Bucky, meanwhile, found he no longer needed to vent out his frustration on a punching bag. It seemed that, as crazy as it sounded, the talk with Sylvia had helped to distracting from the nightmare he had woken up from, allowing him to head back to his and Steve´s room and get under the covers, closing his eyes and letting the blonde out his arms around him, just like a bear that needed cuddling.

Later on, the brunette would curse himself for not asking Sylvia more about her family, about her past, but, for now, Bucky let himself fall asleep to the beat of his lover´s heart.


	6. The surprise attack.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The Avengers Compound is attacked. A new character is introduced, and a powerful truth comes out.

** Upstate New York, 2023. **

All hell broke loose just a few hours after midnight. In a matter of seconds, F.R.I.D.A.Y. was initiating all security protocols, shutting all doors and warning the Avengers residing at the newly reformed Compound about an otherworldly threat, in the form of alien-like creatures, not alike the Chitauri and the rest of beasts that had formed Thanos´ army. They had never seen anything like it, and that was saying something, considering who they were.

Dark, scaly bodies, golden, hate-filled eyes, deadly looking claws, and an aura of death surrounding them. They had appeared out of nowhere, a hundred of them approaching the gate at a rapid pace, just like a rabid beast would, making all of them scramble to gather their equipment and weapons, with Stark ordering the A.I. to send an emergency alert to the rest of the Avengers, at least, the ones that were available.

Now, the ones present were fighting the alien-like creatures, hitting, punching, dodging, and avoiding those lethal claws like their life depended on it -which, actually, it did. Though they didn´t know it at the time, the claws had membranes under them, holding tiny capsules of a rapidly acting kind of poison.

They fought the invaders left and right, all the while feeling the edges of defeat starting to claw their way into their bones. They were outmatched, that was clear. The Avengers hadn´t encountered a species as deadly and rabid as this one, they didn´t seem to get tired, and they kept coming at them like it was their mission to kill them. Which, given the circumstances, it probably was.

“Hey, these guys aren´t stopping, and I´m running out of ammo!” Came Sam´s voice, the man dressed in his Falcon gear, flying through the air and bombing as many creatures as he could.

Steve gritted his teeth, using his shield to stop a claw from tearing into his arm, while trying to keep Bucky on his sight at the same time. The brunette was firing at every non-Avenger, brow furrowed and a snarl on his lips.

“Just hang on, Sam” He spoke, punching another alien right in the face, “F.R.I.D.A.Y, do we have something on these things?”.

The A.I. answered immediately.

_“Negative, Captain. Whatever it is they are, these creatures have never been sighted on Earth”._

Bucky let out a curse, scowling.

“Then where the hell did they come from?”.

_“I´m afraid I don´t know, Sergeant Barnes”._

Nat and Sylvia stood back-to-back, the former using a pair of guns to bring as many enemies as she could to the ground while the latter had opted for a pair of knives. The both of them were a deadly force when combined, but not as effective as they would have liked, for the damned things just kept coming, and there was no apparent sign of a leader or something of the sorts.

The redhead decided to voice this thought.

“Can anyone see if there´s a leader? Someone calling the shots?”.

Stark shook his head inside his suit, scanning the battlefield in seconds only to come up with nothing.

“Nope. I think these guys came here on their own”.

Banner dodged a hit from one of the aliens.

“Tony, are you sure? They must have been brought here by someone, either using a ship, or a portal, or something”.

Steve grunted.

“Bruce is right. They must have a reason for coming for us, all of a sudden, with no warning”.

“Besides, look at them, guys. They´re acting robot-like, aren´t they? Like their only mission is to kill us, there must be someone controlling them, giving the orders” The doctor spoke again, not really thinking about what he was saying.

A moment of silence, and then…

“Geez, Green Guy, I thought I was the tactless one” Tony said, rolling his eyes dramatically, although the rest wouldn´t be able to see it.

“What?” The former Hulk was confused.

It only took a look at Barnes, who hadn´t said a thing but was even more tense now than he was when fighting the aliens, and suddenly, realization dawned on his face.

“Oh. Sorry, Bucky, didn´t mean to-”

“It´s fine” Came the brunette´s reply, who clearly wanted everyone to forget about it and find a way to get rid of the problem at hand.

The others got it, choosing to put their focus back in the fight. Or they tried to, when a sudden beam of light fell from the sky, very similar to the one that Thor had used to get down from the ship when he had arrived in Wakanda in 2019, right during the first battle against Thanos´s army.

Shocked, all present Avengers regrouped, forming a circle around each other and watching, dumfounded, as every alien-like creature stopped moving, probably waiting for whoever had activated it to step out, their raspy breaths suddenly matching those of the tired and weary heroes.

They didn´t have to wait long. A few seconds after everything stopped, the sound of feet against the grass could be heard, belonging to a blonde-haired man, with green eyes and a beard, dressed completely in black and with a dangerous stare. A smirk adorned his face, cocky, and his hands were behind his back, as if he were strolling through the park, instead of walking into a battlefield where aliens and heroes had been fighting for the past hour.

“Good evening, ladies and gentlemen” He spoke, waving his arms dramatically in the air, “My name is Mohaza´r”.

The Avengers shared a look. What kind of name was that?

“I do apologize for the intrusion, but I was hoping you could help me with a little something”.

Tony smirked, stepping forward.

“Well, we would forgive you, you know, but seeing as you´ve tried to get us killed using those minions of yours, I think we´ll pass”.

“Tony” Steve scolded, fists clenched, not wanting the billionaire to get the blonde angry with his attitude.

Mohaza´r, however, seemed to be unaffected, shrugging with a careless smile.

“Oh, well, I´ll get over it, don´t worry”.

A few moments of silence, and then he spoke again, this time with danger tainting his words, eyes narrowed and intently focused on the team of heroes.

“Now, as I was said, I´m looking for someone, and you´re going to tell me where I can find them”.

Steve, ever the mediator, spoke before any of his teammates could, feeling Bucky tense when he approached the other, clearly deranged, man.

“Why don´t you just tell us who it is and we´ll see if we can help you? Then you´ll go on your way and we´ll all forget what´s happened here”.

The otherworldly man chuckled, crossing his arms.

“Steven Rogers. Captain America” He spoke, “The Man out of Time”.

Steve tried to keep his face impassive.

“Well, Captain, in truth, I was hoping you in particular would know of her whereabouts, or perhaps the Soldier over there”.

The Avengers could see where this was going, and they didn´t like it one bit.

“Her?” Bucky tested the waters.

Mohaza´r had a knowing glint in his eye.

“That soulmate of yours, of course” They all took notice of the distaste in which he spat the word “soulmate”.

Both super soldiers tensed at this, feeling protectiveness for a woman they had yet to find reaching all the way to their souls. With it, came the knowledge that she was real, that the past few days hadn´t been the product of a well-crafted lie, and she was somewhere, perhaps waiting for them to remember her so that they could finally be reunited.

Whoever this Mohaza´r was, had just confirmed her existence, and, with it, his desire to find her, which meant they couldn´t, wouldn´t, help him, until they knew for sure that he meant her no harm. Though, seeing what had transpired in the last hour, it was probably something dangerous.

“I´m sorry, but we can´t help you” Steve said, preparing himself for a possible fight with this stranger.

“We really can´t” Bucky agreed, doing the same as his lover, “We don´t know where she is, didn´t even know she existed until a few days ago”.

Nat intervened, hands on top of her guns.

“So you see, this has been for nothing. You should try to look for her elsewhere, in another planet, if possible. You won´t find anything here, and you´ll have to through us if you put this world in danger again”.

Her teammates were all witness to the rage that slowly, but surely, began to take a hold of his face. The beasts surrounding all of them growled, as if in tune with their master´s emotions, making Sam, Bruce, Tony and Sylvia step closer to the other three members of the team.

However, instead of making the aliens attack them, Mohaza´r simply tutted, shaking his head mockingly in disapproval, letting out a sigh, as if he didn´t want to do whatever it was he was thinking of.

“You know, Captain, Sergeant? I expected more of you” He spoke, looking briefly at the sky, as if waiting for something, “I suppose if I can´t get you to help me find her, I´ll just have to make her come to me”.

With a snap of his fingers, five shadows materialized behind the Avengers, waving their hands and bringing the group of heroes to their knees, startling them. Two of them separated Steve and Bucky from the rest, making all of them yell in protest.

“Get your hands off them!” Sam shouted, struggling uselessly to get out of their captors´ hold.

Natasha and Tony tried to use their devices on them, though, again, it proved to be for nothing.

“Shit, I can´t get this to work” Tony muttered, panic creeping into his voice.

Both figures holding the super soldiers started carrying them away, making the latter stare at each other in confusion, anger, and despair. Just who were these people? Why couldn´t they get free, even with their strength?

The next few moments would forever be implanted in their minds. A great truth was going to be revealed, trust tested, a series of events would lead the Avengers to meet the person who they had been trying to find for the last few days, and some of the Avengers would be forced to reconnect with parts of their pasts which they had thought forgotten.

And it all started when Sylvia got up from the ground, subdued her opponent using a wave of gold -which shocked the team, because, since when did the young brunette have powers? -and made a spear materialize out of nowhere, pointing it at Mohaza´r with a fierce look. She looked like a warrior.

“Get your puppets to get their hands off them, right now” She ordered in a strong voice, ignoring the looks of disbelief on the team´s faces, who were trying to get her to stop.

The blonde, green-eyed man tilted his head in curiosity, though she could barely detect a faint glimmer of surprise, which meant he most certainly didn´t expect the young woman to take down one of his lackeys.

“Ah, Miss Sylvia Wayland, is it?” He spoke, studying her in interest, “Well, I´m terribly sorry, my dear, but I´m afraid I can´t do that. Besides, none of you have anything to do with this, so stay quiet, stay put, and I´ll let you go. This really isn´t any of your business, as you humans say”.

Sylvia smiled then, deadly and beautiful, and stared him down with a powerful look in her eye.

“Actually, it is” She said, making sure he got the point, “My name is not Sylvia Wayland, it´s Reyna Barnes, and the Winter Soldier is my father”.

Bucky´s head snapped towards her, as did Steve and the rest of the Avenger´s. She tried not to let the hurt in her newly proclaimed father´s face affect her, nor the confusion, the pain, the slight betrayal and.. was that relief? Instead, she stomped them down, figuring there might be time for all of it later.

“So you can bet your ass, it´s my business”.

**_ Unknown H.Y.D.R.A. facility, 1995. _ **

_Pain. It was all she could feel. Her insides felt like they were being torn apart, her lower regions were being squeezed by a burning iron hand._

_It had taken her by surprise. She thought she´d have more time, at least enough to get herself and the Soldier out of here, along with Thomas and Jeremiah, just like she had planned. Alas, it didn´t go as she had expected. Her baby had chosen to arrive earlier than expected, and she cursed herself for not noticing the signs in time._

_But she couldn´t do anything about it, only hope that her trusted ally had gotten there in time, and she could at least get her little baby out with the help of her soulmate, to keep them away from the cruel fate that H.Y.D.R.A. had planned for them._

_“ **Push. Push, now** ” The nurse told her._

_She glared at her. What right did she have to tell her that? Who was she to be present at her baby´s birth? This was so different than it had been with Sarah. Back then, it had been her family, the Barnes family, who had stood next to her as she brought her firstborn into the world. There had been pain, yes, but there had also been love, peace, and safety._

_Now, there was mostly pain. Fear, despair, the terror of being forced to part from her child only to never see them again. And wasn´t that the truth? She was going to take her baby away from this wretched place, yes, but at what cost? When would she be able to be reunited with them? With all of them? Perhaps she wouldn´t be. Perhaps she was fighting a loosing battle. Perhaps she-_

_No. No. No, she couldn´t give up. She was going to bring her second child to the world, and she would make sure they could get away. It was going to work, and she would be able to get her Soldier, her Bucky, out of here. Even if she couldn´t do it today._

_With this thought in mind, the brunette pushed with all of her might, willing her baby to get out, the need to see their beautiful eyes at least one time too powerful to ignore anymore. She willed herself to keep going, to remain strong as she pushed, and pushed, until finally…_

_Finally, her baby was born with the strongest cry she had ever heard a baby make, even during World War II in her times as both nurse and midwife._

_“ **Tell Director Pierce that the asset has been delivered successfully** ” The nurse ordered one of the guards, picking the baby and wrapping them in a blanket. _

_The mother of that same child narrowed her eyes in fury at the treatment her newborn was receiving, reaching out her arms._

_“ **Give her to me, let me see her** ” She said, restraining herself from uttering that phrase like a plead, voice hoarse from the pain in her throat after hours of screaming._

_The other woman hesitated, until one of the doctors nodded at her, and she put the baby in her arms._

_She felt the connection immediately. A daughter. Another daughter. This one, however, had a patch of brown hair on top of her head, and, when she opened her eyes, she found a lovely shade of greyish blue staring back at her. She had taken after her father, just as her Sarah had, only this time it was Bucky and not Steve._

_She felt her own eyes soften, filled with love and adoration at the small miracle in her arms. God, she couldn´t wait to show her Soldier, her Soldat, what they had done, what precious creature they had created and brought into the world._

_“ **Time´s up** ” The nurse told her again, opening her arms and motioning her to give her the baby. _

_She furrowed her eyebrows. It was time, yes. Just not for what they intended to do to her daughter. Determination filled her eyes, along with a wicked glint. When she rose her head, it was with a smile that matched the wickedness in her gaze._

_“ **Yes, I suppose it is** ” She said._

_Then, she let out a powerful wave of gold, and all present fell unconscious, all but her and her daughter._

_Her Reyna Marie Barnes._


	7. Explanations and a surprise.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Reyna explains some things about what is happening while the Avengers are held prisoners by their newfound enemy. The heroes get a surprise rescue.

** Unknown location, 2023. **

Sylvia Wayland, or as the team knew her now, Reyna Barnes, stared at the wall in front of her without making a sound. From where she was sitting on the floor, the brunette could feel the way the team´s stares were focused on her, probably trying to find out how she had managed to keep her identity a secret from them for so long.

Of course, with this came the feeling of betrayal and mistrust. Why hadn´t she told them? Why had she kept it from Steve and Bucky -especially Bucky- after seeing how finding out about their lost soulmate had affected them?

They all pondered these questions from their place inside their own cells, where they had been thrown after Sylvia -or Reyna- had failed to free them, thus allowing Mohaza´r to knock them unconscious with his magic and take them to the biggest ship they had ever seen.

Since then, they hadn´t uttered a word, each of them lost in their own mind, though Reyna could feel her father´s, as well as Steve´s, gaze on her, just as it had been for the past two hours. The brunette sighed, wishing she could move her hands to rub the ache in her temple, keeping her eyes closed to avoid looking at any of them.

“You might as well ask away, we´re going to be here for a while”.

Bucky wasted no time in doing exactly that.

“Why?”.

Reyna shrugged slightly, having already anticipated the question.

“When you forgot her, Mum was devastated. She thought it had been her fault, so she spent a very long time trying to search for a way to recover your memories”.

Steve cleared his throat, confused.

“How could it have been her fault?”.

Here Reyna paused, hesitation clear in her movements. Eventually, she decided to tell them, knowing it would come out sooner or later.

“The man who brought us here, Mohaza´r, he works for someone even more deranged than he is” She explained.

Sam scoffed, rolling his eyes.

“Great, just what we needed. Another crazy psycho”.

The brunette let herself smirk for a moment before an impassive look framed her face again.

“Kraiva´r, is his name. According to Mum, he has been obsessed with her for centuries now. But she, of course, already had -has- two soulmates, so she rejected him every time he asked her out, as we say here”.

Natasha chose this time to intervene.

“I´m guessing he didn´t like it?”.

Reyna shook her head, agreeing with her.

“Not one bit. So he chose to punish her, came to Earth five years ago, and took away the memories of those she loved the most”.

Bucky frowned, analysing his newfound daughter´s words. When he did, his eyebrows rose in confusion.

“Wait, five years?”.

The young woman lowered her head, a sombre look crossing her features. Bucky found he didn´t like it one bit.

“Look, all of you, you have to keep in mind that all of this is very difficult to explain, so I´ll give you the short version”.

She made sure she had all of their attention before continuing.

“Though this will sound crazy to you, this isn´t the first time you´ve heard about my mother in this century. In fact, you´ve seen her before in person. The last time was in two thousand and nineteen”.

The others were, to say the least, very surprised by her admission.

“What the hell?”.

“Before the Snap?”.

“Are you serious?”.

Reyna put her hands on her head, massaging her temple and cursing internally. Maybe she should have waited until her mother got here, she certainly had more patience than she ever did. The brunette hadn´t taken after her in that aspect, unlike Sarah, who had had decades to perfect her tolerance to difficult and overly annoying situations. In this moment, she really wished she could have one of them with her, if anything to make them stop giving her a headache.

While she thought about all of this, Steve and Bucky stared at each other, trying to make sense of what they had been told. So, apparently, not only had they forgotten their soulmate, but also did so five years ago, right when everything with Thanos had happened, and not in the forties, like they had initially thought. And, if that wasn´t enough, now they had to come to terms with the idea of an otherworldly being obsessing over their soulmate, who they hadn´t seen since the Snap, according to what Reyna had said.

It only took one look into each other´s eyes to know they wouldn´t let this man, this Kraiva´r, put a finger in her. It didn´t matter that they didn´t have their memories, it didn´t matter that Reyna had lied to them about who she was, it didn´t matter that they were being held prisoners in a ship, somewhere in outer space with no way of knowing where they were. It simply didn´t matter.

They would fight. They would fight, and get Bucky´s daughter to tell them where her mother was, so they could find her and bring her with them to the Compound, where they knew she would be safe with them. Then, they could finally be reunited and talk about what had happened. They could be a family again, move on from everything that had taken place in the last few years and get to know each other better, take back what had been cruelly and unjustly taken from them, including the memories of a time they could not remember.

Their musings were interrupted by a clang right outside their door. Their teammates´ questions and protests died down immediately, going silent all of a sudden, gazes focused on the only impenetrable doors in the room. Or cell block, more accurately.

Another bang, and something hitting the ground harshly. Two yells of pain, a crunch of bones, and the sound of something being moved through the air and hitting a wall, making the Avengers wary of the new possible threat. Then, only silence, and a warm, golden glow under the door, very similar to the one they had seen surrounding Reyna when she revealed her true identity to Mohaza´r.

They all looked at her, searching for answers and, perhaps, an explanation. Was she doing that? One look at her told them it wasn´t. The brunette had her head tilted to the side, a slight smile on her face and a knowing glint in her eye, but no golden glow that would indicate that she was using her powers.

However, she did appear to know who it was, for her posture was relaxed and no worry seemed to emanate from her. On the contrary, she almost appeared to be amused at whatever it was that stood behind those magically reinforced doors, which only served to confuse them even more. Had she known? Had she expected them to be captured? Had she warned someone before it happened? Did that mean they were being rescued? If so, what more had she kept from them?

The runes on the walls shifted, glinting for a few seconds before vanishing in the air. Seeing this, Reyna smirked. Opening her mouth, she whistled a soft tune under her breath for a few seconds, raising her arm to stop the heroes from speaking when she saw their interrogating glances, signalling them to wait in silence. For what, they did not know.

Sure enough, the same tune was heard from outside the doors, just not from a human mouth, but from a bird´s, much to their astonishment. With a smile, the brunette woman got up from the ground, approaching the door to her own cell and putting her hands on the bars, closing her eyes and letting her magic do its job. After a few moments, they disappeared, allowing her to step out of it with no problem.

With wide eyes, the rest of the Avengers rose, not understanding how she had done that. They had tried to get free themselves, but whatever magic Mohaza´r´s puppets had used to trap them was very strong, so they had stopped trying after some time. And now, Reyna had done it almost effortlessly with the help of their mysterious ally. At least they hoped it was an ally.

“Step back, all of you” She ordered, waving her hands in the air and closing her eyes, a look of deep concentration on her face.

Steve nodded at them to do so, pressing himself against the furthest wall of the cell and watching as his comrades did the same after a moment. Within seconds, their own bars vanished into thin air, just as Reyna´s had done, enabling them to get out and stand before Bucky´s daughter, still not fully comprehending what was happening.

“You gonna explain how you did that and what´s going on out there, or do we keep guessing till our brains explode from the effort?” Tony spoke, looking around the space, searching for answers but getting restless when his genius mind came up with nothing.

The woman rolled her eyes, turning around and facing the doors, standing with their back to them.

“Stark, do me a favour and be quiet, will you? I need to speak to Anallion”.

Banner frowned.

“What´s an Anallion?”.

Reyna sighed impatiently.

“It´s not a what, it´s a who, and it has feelings, so I´d watch it when you´re in front of her. She gets angry when disrespected, their species are highly prideful creatures”.

The Black Widow stepped closer to her, hands on her hips.

“Can we trust her, whoever she is?”.

The oldest of the Barnes children hid a smirk, knowing they would be in for a surprise when they saw her trusted protector in person. Which was going to be very soon, actually.

“Yes, we can. Now, be quiet and let me speak to her. She´s our ride out of here, and I suspect Mohaza´r will find out about the cells very soon, so keep your questions to yourselves and ask them when we´ve returned to the Compound. You´ll get all the answers you want then”.

Bucky stared at his daughter, feeling suddenly proud of her, something that surprised him. He knew he probably should feel angry at her for lying to them, to him, but, somehow, he also knew that she had done it for a reason, which he felt he would be finding out soon. Besides, this young woman, his daughter, was the only connection he had to his soulmate, and he wouldn´t, couldn´t, let himself let his anger get the best of him, not if we wanted to finally understand everything that the brunette had told them until now, which was far more than what they had been able to find by themselves in days.

By the look on his other soulmate´s face, he could tell he thought the same as him, choosing to remain quiet and let Reyna do whatever it was she was doing to get them out of here. They had wasted enough time as it was.

 _“Anallion, open the door. It´s safe”_ She spoke in a language they didn´t understand, her energy humming, reaching towards the doors and going through them.

As soon as she said it, the heavy structures opened, freeing them at last, letting them see just what had been standing outside. And it was definetely not a woman.

“Huh, I guess that explains the whole bird cry” Sam muttered.

And right he was. For the answering cry they had heard when Reyna had uttered the strange tune belonged to a winged creature, not to a woman. It was big, had the body of a lion but the head of an eagle, and two massive, white wings, one on each side, and a beak that could snap their neck in half very easily. Powerful, golden claws adorned each of its paws, dragging against the ground with grace and lethal force, while its eyes, silvery and ancient, gazed carefully at each individual in the room as it advanced.

It was beautiful, certainly, but also deadly and capable of brutal yet elegant force.

“Hello, girl” Reyna spoke softly, reaching for its head with careful arms, fingers tangling in its mane.

The creature, who they guessed was Anallion, rubbed her head against her hands, not allowing her eyes to close but still purring in pleasure from her master´s ministrations.

The Avengers stared at them in awe, never having seen anything like it before, and wondering where it had come from, how it could be real. Though, in truth, they shouldn´t really be surprised after New York, Ultron, and Thanos. The Mad Titan had had an army full of strange, dreadful, feral aliens, so seeing this shouldn´t be this shocking, but they couldn´t help it. Something was strangely and hypnotizingly beautiful about this creature, its aura radiated power, almost beckoning them to touch it to see if it was actually real.

“Let´s get out of here, shall we?” She caressed Anallion´s head, turning towards the human individuals in the room, “But first, you probably want this back”.

With yet another wave of her hand, the brunette made their weapon arsenals appear, all knives, guns, suits and shield.

Steve raised his eyebrows in shock.

“You had them this entire time?”.

Reyna shook her head.

“Not really, no. I´ve only been able to do it because Anallion here disabled the runes. She´s a hippogriff, by the way, just wanted to say it before any of you asked”.

“A hippogriff?” Bruce wondered.

Bucky paused adjusting his combat gear.

“I thought those things were only myths”.

Hus daughter smirked, lifting an eyebrow.

“They are, on Earth. Back from where Mum is, they are actually very important. And, as you can see, they are real, so you should probably wrap your head around it now. Otherwise, the rest won´t make any sense”.

A bang interrupted their conversation, followed by a very distant shout of rage. Anallion lifted her head, alert, wings slightly raised, claws digging into the floor, letting out a low cry. Reyna must have understood what she was warning them about, because she started walking towards the exit and ushering them to follow her once she saw they were all ready for a fight.

“It´s time to go. Mohaza´r has been warned”.

The rest soldiered on instantly, recognizing the seriousness of the statement, letting both Reyna and Anallion take the lead, Bucky and Steve following behind them, watching their back. Natasha, seeing this, shared a knowing look with Tony and Bruce, noting with amusement how fatherly Bucky´s actions were, even if he did them unconsciously.

The Avengers walked through the hallways silently, always alert for any type of threat, stopping only after what felt like hours when they reached a door that lead to a giant bridge, one they would have to cross if they wanted to get to the transport beams room. Reyna didn´t like this, not one bit. They hadn´t come across any enemies yet, and they had crossed half the ship by then. Everything was too silent, too calm. Those weren´t the usual Aza´r traits.

Always mindful of her surroundings, just as Aunt Irina and her mother had taught her, the brunette signalled Anallion to walk forward, doing the same with her companions, who were just as wary about all of it as she was. And they were right to be.

As soon as they stepped on the bridge, a sharp growl sounded from above them. Looking up, the team of heroes watched as a group of the same creatures that had attacked them at the Compound started getting out from behind many of the metal structures, viciously snapping their jaws and running towards them at an alarming speed. Just as before.

 _“Oh, hell”_ Bucky cursed in Russian, instantly using his gun to shoot as many creatures as he could.

Steve moved at the same time, using his fists and shield to defend himself while Natasha used one of her many techniques to bring one of the aliens to the ground. Tony shot laser beams at everything that moved, mindful of the winged beast they had met only minutes before, who had gone up in the air as soon as the first enemy had appeared, and was now using her claws, beak and wings to bring down every single one of her opponents. Falcon tried to avoid all three of her deadly weapons, flying through the air with the help of his own wings, firing at whatever one of those monsters he could reach. Banner, like Steve, was using his massive fists to punch everything his hands came in contact with, using brutal force to take them to the ground.

Reyna, meanwhile, used her magic to destroy those bastards, thrusting her hands up in the air wildly and either throwing them off the bridge or forcing them to go back with a wave of gold. She clearly was a forced to be reckoned with, one that reminded them of Wanda and her own powers, and one they were glad to have on their side, more so now that she didn´t need to hide her abilities from them any longer.

Left and right they fought, killing dozens of creatures, until suddenly, a shout of pain caught their attention. Steve turned his head instantly, having recognized the owner´s voice, watching in horror as one of the creatures´ claws tore into his lover´s arm, forcing him to drop his weapon and bringing him to his knees, though he still tried to use his hidden knives and his vibranium arm to defend himself.

“Bucky!” Steve shouted, worried and furious that one of them had dared to hurt his soulmate at the same time, “Hang on!”.

Reyna turned around, widening her eyes when they fell onto her father´s arm, right where that dreaded beast had bit him, noticing the starts of many blackened veins.

“No” She whispered, trying her hardest to reach him, momentarily distracted, which allowed two of the Aza´r to tackle her and pin her to the ground.

The other Avengers tried to help their fallen teammates, fighting, kicking, punching, but it was all useless. Again, they were being bested. Anallion waved her wings through the air at a rapid speed, twirling and using her wings to send out a powerful wave of energy against those surrounding the former Winter Soldier, covering his fallen, weakened form and protecting him with her body. 

Steve tried to reach him desperately now, but was stopped when a sudden laugh, mocking and cruel, rang out through the speakers.

“It is of no use, Avengers” Mohaza´r spoke gleefully, “Your comrade has been poisoned, and he will be dead in a matter of minutes, super soldier or not”.

Captain America let out a choked whimper at the thought, watching as Bucky´s skin started to grow pale, body spasming in pain, eyes closed and hands still holding his gun in a weak attempt at fighting from under Anallion. His lover´s eyes met his, glazed over and suddenly afraid, not understanding what was happening to his body.

Reyna swallowed, hating how she had allowed herself to become distracted, but hating the desperate stares being shared between the people her mother loved even more. Closing her eyes, the woman tried to relax, to open her mind and reach out to her mother.

_“Mother. Mother, please. If you can hear me, I need your help. Dad has been injured, and I can´t help him. We´ve been bested. Please, Mum. Please come”._

There was no answer. Her hopes started dying down, a knot tying itself in her stomach.

“Surrender, and he will be saved. Fail to do so, and the soldier dies in the most excruciating pain”.

From her place on the ground, the brunette watched as the rest of the Avengers kept fighting, looking at Steve for instructions, but he was too focused on his dying Bucky to notice.

“Choose, Captain Rogers. Your precious soulmate is dying, and the other hasn´t even made an appearance. She clearly doesn´t care about you, about any of you. She has abandoned you, left you here to r-

An explosion of light interrupted his poisonous words. All were blinded by it, scrambling to cover their eyes, trying to keep them from being damaged. Metal structures trembled, the ground shook. Golden tendrils sprouted from a crater on the ground, wrapping themselves around all Avengers, acting as a shield, while others forced their enemies back, screeching and howling in pain. A powerful explosion of power and magic, one they had never seen before, not even in Wanda Maximoff.

And, in the middle of it, a woman dressed in a warrior´s armour, a guardian angel, a protector. With long, brown hair and caramel eyes, furious and covered in a golden glow, she had her arms outreached, balls of golden energy in them, a giant silhouette of a kind of bird behind her, a symbol of her power. Like a goddess, she stared their enemies down furiously, but gracefully. And then, she spoke.

“I never abandoned them, Mohaza´r. And you are a fool to think so”.


	8. The aftermath.

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Bucky wakes up to a truly wonderful sight.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow, guys, more than a thousand hits! I´m so happy! Here´s the next chapter to celebrate it. Remember, feedback is always appreciated.

**_ Unknown H.Y.D.R.A. facility, 1980 _ **

_He was back from yet another mission. His body was tired, posture weary and rigid, eyes emotionlessly staring at nothing in particular, blood plastered to his skin. He paid no mind to the doctors dressed in white surrounding him, checking his vitals and taking a look at his arms, or the handful of guards that had greeted him at the entrance._

_His mind wasn´t on them, but instead on her. The light in his darkness, his guardian angel. The woman who he had captured and condemned to an eternity of misery two years ago, the same woman who hadn´t once blamed him for it, but took care of him, of his injury and his fragile mind every time he was sent on a mission._

_His body, his soul, ached to be in her presence, to be held in her comforting embrace, to be rid of the haunting screams, the dreaded nightmares that plagued his non-existent memories. He longed for the golden tendrils of magic, those that would wrap safely around his body, his mind, allowing him an instance of relief, brief as it were, tuning everything else out while he listened to her voice, her whispers in his ear, reminding him of a time he had long since forgotten._

_But most of all, he wanted her touch. Skin against skin, arms and legs wrapped around each other, bare bodies hidden from view, from the eyes of those who would mock their closeness, would want to take her from him if they weren´t careful, not liking that he had become attached to a woman who had refused to allow them to see her abilities, her precious gift, and let them experiment and use them for a purpose far from noble._

_He didn´t have to wait long, only a few minutes passing before the doctors gave his handler a nod, allowing the guards to escort him away to a cell, one where she would be waiting for him._

_“You´re back a bit later than I expected” Were the words that he heard upon stepping into the space, only spoken once they were completely and utterly alone in the room._

_The Soldier waited a few seconds, standing by the door, arms at his side and fists clenching and unclenching as he debated whether he should approach her when he was so bloodied and dirty. However, he couldn´t resist going to her when her arms opened, an unspoken invitation to get closer._

_He sat down next to her, allowing her hands to reach for his vest, not moving an inch while she inspected his body, asking permission to undress him with her eyes. He nodded at her, not at all bothered by the fact that his clothes, at least those covering his chest, soon disappeared, taken by soft hands. Once that part was out of the way, his eyes never left her face, watching as she bit her lip, doe eyes roaming over every piece of skin uncovered, brow furrowing when she sae the deep gashes on his right arm and chest, hands moving slightly over said parts, noticing the shudder he emitted when her hands rose raised to cup his face and he leaned into her touch._

_“Are you alright? Do they hurt?” She asked, gaze attentive and concerned._

_He shook his head dismissively, knowing they would be healed in a matter of hours, wanting to lie down and bask in the comfort of her whole being. He touched her hip lightly, an indication of what he wanted, and he revelled in the playful roll of her eyes, body sagging tiredly against hers when she moved to rest her back against the wall, letting him situate himself between her legs, his bare back against her chest._

_The Soldier allowed a small sigh of relief to leave his body, adoring the way her hands instantly went to his neck and head, fingers pressing lightly in a soothing motion. His lover let a touch of magic come in contact with his skin, instantly making his shoulders relax, metal arm lying motionless next to her leg, her voice humming a soft lullaby in a language he didn´t understand._

_In that moment, he let himself rest, closing his eyes and letting his mind wander, enjoying her ministrations while trying to understand why, even in her presence, he still felt as if something else was missing._

** Upstate New York, 2023. **

His body felt heavy, heart pumping blood furiously, trying to battle whatever it was that that thing had done to him when it bit him. He was in pain, pain like he had never felt before, and it scared him, for he was no stranger to this emotion. In fact, it had become his companion throughout the years. But this, this was different.

He was burning, like a torch had been pressed directly into his body, and had somehow reached the inner part of it. His bones, his veins, his organs… Everything was on fire. He could feel himself writhe on whatever surface he had been placed in, limbs fighting against an unknown force, trying, and failing, to raise and get out of whatever situation he had gotten himself into.

And then, suddenly, it stopped. His head stopped pounding, his heart relaxed, and he was invaded by the calmest feeling, one like the water from a river, travelling through his body and putting the fire out, soothing, cooling every inch it touched. He stopped trashing, he could somehow feel it, his soul finding the source of the sudden relief, coming in contact with a magic that, somehow, felt strangely familiar.

Someone was touching him. There were hands caressing his chest, his head, coming to rest at the nape of his neck, fingers threading carefully through his long hair, fingers pressing against his scalp in a soothing motion, one that inadvertently drew a moan out of him.

He was rewarded with a soft laugh, a feminine laugh, like a tinker bell, the voice of an angel. And, oh, if that wasn´t the most beautiful sound he had ever heard.

“Now, now, dear. You´re in Medical, not in the bedroom. Let´s keep those sounds for later, shall we?”.

So, whoever it was, she was a damn tease. One he wanted to put a face to, so he willed his eyes to open, his eyesight becoming blurry for a second before it cleared, and then, his heart stopped.

She was astounding. With brown hair and caramel-coloured eyes, the woman in front of him couldn´t be human. She had to be a goddess, she just had to. With her kind and perfect features, her sparkling gaze, and that breathtaking smile, she was an absolute sight to behold. Dressed in a white blouse and black jeans, as well as a pair of black boots, her body exuded a calming presence that was seeping into his bones by the minute.

“Are you an angel?” Was the only thing that he could muster.

She laughed again, making his heart lurch, shaking her head and coming to stand by his side.

“No, my love, I´m not” She said.

He couldn´t control the shiver of pleasure that ran down his spine at the nickname, not wasting any time in flirting with her.

“You must be, such a beautiful woman can´t possibly be human”.

The brunette rolled her eyes playfully, resting a hand on his right shoulder.

“Flattery will get you nowhere, pretty boy”.

He only grinned, getting lost in the depths of her stare, though his smile fell as he was suddenly reminded about the events that had transpired the last time he was awake.

“What happened?” He asked, eyebrows pulled into a frown.

His companion sobered up instantly, almost making him regret asking the question. Turning around, she walked until she reached the chair on the side of the bed, sitting down and focusing her gaze on him.

“What do you remember?”.

Bucky shrugged.

“We were at the compound, and then those things attacked us” He spoke, swallowing when the next words fell from his lips, “Reyna said she was my daughter”.

The woman closed her eyes, hanging her head briefly, and the former brainwashed assassin found himself instantly disliking the regret he saw in her stare when she opened the again.

“I´m sorry about that. It was my fault, I told her not to say anything until I arrived. Though I supposed she´s a bit of a wild thing, it´s one of the few things she got from me. She probably couldn´t resist going up against Mohaza´r”.

The brunette man shook his head.

“I don´t blame her, not really. I just… all of this came as a very big surprise, you know?”.

She nodded, swallowing harshly.

“I know”.

They spent a few moments in silence, Bucky staring at her form with curiosity and a slight longing. So, this was it. This was the soulmate they had been trying to find the last few days, and now that he had her in front of him, he could say he wasn´t disappointed in the slightest.

“You rescued us, didn’t you?” He broke the silence, “In that ship. You came and got us out of there”.

He was surprised when she let out a bitter and dry laugh.

“Yes, but it almost cost you your life. If Reyna hadn´t warned me, you´d probably be dead now”.

“Wait, Reyna told you where we were? She warned you?”.

He was confused, momentarily forgetting to make sure to tell her that he didn´t blame her for what had happened. Bucky hadn´t seen Reyna call anyone, at least not using a phone, though, then again, maybe her powers had a mental component to them. This was proven right when his saviour tapped a finger against her temple.

“She used her head. It´s another one of my abilities, and one she inherited from me. We can communicate telepathically, it doesn´t matter how far we are from each other. She told me where you all were, and I sent Anallion to help you until I could get there myself. It seems I did it just in time, otherwise, your body would have probably succumbed to the Aza´r venom” She explained, a painful expression on her beautiful face when she mentioned his encounter with one of those wretched beasts.

The brunette winced, clenching his vibranium fist while he remembered how powerless he had felt when that thing had bitten the hell out of him. Seeing this, the young woman put a hand over his, using a bit of her magic over his unnatural hand, golden tendrils wrapping around it comfortably.

“You´re alright now, Bucky” She assured him, giving him a comforting smile, “The venom´s completely out of your system, though you should probably take it easy the next few hours, at least. You´ve been unconscious for three days”.

The former Winter Soldier raised his eyebrows, mouth open in shock.

“Three days?” He asked incredulously, suddenly remembering about Steve and how worried he must have been until now, they healed faster than the average human, after all, and seeing him like that had probably crushed his boy.

As if sensing his thoughts, which she probably could, the other brunette squeezed his hand.

“Don´t worry, Steve´s fine. Worried out of his mind, of course, but he´s fine. He´s been sitting with you for the most part of it. Miss Romanoff had to force him to get up and get a shower. He´ll probably be done in a few minutes”.

Bucky shook his head, exasperated but also used to the blonde´s stubborness when it came to the people he loved. That man would let himself starve if it meant his soulmate was being watched at all times. He made a mental note to berate him for it later. For now, he decided, he would address the elephant in the room.

“So, lost soulmates, huh?”.

His once-upon-a-time- lover winced.

“It appears so, yes” She said, a small twinkle in her eye.

The vibranium-armed man frowned, tilting his head, his stare never accusing, only curious.

“Why now? Why wait for five years? I was a victim of the Snap, yes, but Steve was here, Steve was alive and dealing with loses that almost made him crumble from the pressure”.

She shuddered, closing her eyes again, rubbing her temple. There were tears in them when she gazed back at him.

“I know, but I couldn´t risk it. If I had gone to him, I would have risked damaging his brain. The magic used to take them away is very powerful, and considering I wasn´t exactly in the best place of mind, there was a chance I could have made some irreparable damage” The caramel-eyed brunette said in a whisper, “So I chose to keep it to myself, to deal with all of it and spare him the pain while I searched for answers. He didn´t notice my absence, pretty boy. He lived without the pain of knowing he had forgotten one of the people who meant the world to him. You both did”.

Bucky stared at her, hating the regret, the guilt and pain that reflected in her face while she spoke.

“Until a few days ago” He told her.

“Until a few days ago” She agreed, swallowing the lump in her throat.

Her soulmate looked at her with a contemplative stare, as if trying to analyse her. He did it for a few more seconds in which she was allowed a respite, basking in the nothingness of silence. Then, he started talking again.

“It was you, wasn´t it? The one who put that book in Peggy´s office in 1978”.

The small tilt of her mouth confirmed it.

“We wanted to give you hints, to try to get you to remember slowly, without forcing anything. We sae a chance to do it, and we took it”.

He frowned.

“We?”.

His other half smiled mysteriously.

“You´ll meet them soon enough”.

Bucky hmed, lying back against his pillow, which he hadn´t really noticed until now, having been too immersed in talking with this goddess of a woman. He still had questions, tons of them, just like Steve would, he just knew it, but he chose to live it at that. He was sure they would all be answered later, when he got out of the infirmary, probably in the presence of the rest of the Avengers, or at least those that had been in this since Steve had gone back in time.

A knock on the door broke the silence. Speaking of Steve…

“Hey, Buck. Are you alright?” Was the first thing he said, stepping into the room and looking a bit nervous, though that probably was because he was in the presence of a woman who had turned out to be their lost soulmate and he wasn´t sure on how to approach her. The brunette wondered if he had even been able to talk with her in the days he had been unconscious.

“Hey, pal. Never been better” He answered, giving the blonde a small smile, taking his hand when he offered it to him.

The super soldier let out a sigh of relief.

“That´s good”.

Their soulmate saw that they probably wanted to have a private moment, so she stood up and adjusted her clothes, walking towards the door.

“I´ll let you catch up”.

Both super soldiers inwardly panicked.

“Wait!” Steve spoke hurriedly.

She stopped, turning around and looking at them inquisitively.

Now he was nervous.

“You´re not-You´re not leaving, are you?” He said, scratching the back of his neck nervously, torn between sitting next to Bucky and hugging the hell out of his previously injured soulmate or going to her and forcing her to tell them everything that had happened in the last years. Or decades, really.

The woman smiled reassuringly, understanding.

“No. I´ll go and speak to Reyna. The both of you talk about whatever you need. Go to the living room when you´re done. We´ll all talk then, pretty boys”.

Steve blushed, while Bucky simply winked at her and let himself relax against the bed. With a last wave of her hand, she was gone, leaving them in silence.

“We found her, Stevie” He spoke, as if he were suddenly processing all of it.

The blonde grabbed his other hand, staring at the door with a longing gaze.

“Yeah, Buck. We found her”.


End file.
